To the Well of All Sparks
by TehMarishal
Summary: Prowl died a hero. Now he has passed into the Well of All Sparks, where he not only encounters Master Yoketron, but someone else as well, someone who will tell him about the future his comrades will face. Oneshot, Please R


_A/N Since I believe quite a few people will do their own tributes to Prowl, now that he's died a hero, (and I've already read and liked at least a couple of the fics I've seen) I've decided to do one of my own. This idea came from a comment someone made on a forum I visit sometimes. And yes I know very well that TFA refers to the "Well of All Sparks" while Beast Wars refers to the "Matrix". But let's just consider them the same here, okay? Please review!_

Prowl blinked slightly as he took in his new surroundings. The last thing he remembered was the odd though exuberant sensation of leaving his own body, to merge his very essence with that of the energy contained within the Allspark fragments he and Jazz pulled together.

He then recalled being part of the energy that surrounded the large bomb, and some part of his essence had spared enough energy to slip in and pull his friend and leader, Optimus Prime, out of the shield bubble so that he would be safe. Once Optimus out of there the explosion went off and the energy bubble contained it, then faded out of existence afterwards.

But Prowl found himself in another place altogether. At first he wasn't sure where he was, but then somehow Yoketron's voice floated through his mind, _"The Well of All Sparks."_ Prowl had no way of knowing if that was simply the memory of his master talking about the place before he died, or if Yoketron himself had spoken. But Prowl knew one thing was for sure—he was in another plane of existence now.

Not only that, but his master was _here._ Somewhere.

Prowl found himself sensing the presence of countless others here, and there seemed to be too many to possibly count or even comprehend. _"You will learn your way around this place soon enough, Prowl," _a voice in his head seemed to say. And that was when Prowl realized his master _was_ talking to him.

"Master Yoketron?" Prowl asked, looking around. Everything still looked rather odd, like a pure void made of nothing but an endless white light without a visible source. "Where are you?"

A soft chuckle answered his question. _"I am here, as well as everyone else who has ever lived and passed into this existence."_ Yoketron paused. _"Prowl, we will have plenty of time to commune later. I am occupied at the moment, but someone else has accepted the task of helping you familiarize yourself with this place."_

"But Master, wait—" Prowl exclaimed, but somehow he sensed that Yoketron had already moved off. He looked around, trying to make sense of _anything_ he seeing, but he could see nothing at all but the endless whiteness.

_How can anyone possibly live in this existence?_ Prowl thought, looking around desperately and trying to see _anything_ or _anyone_ in the annoyingly endless void. He could feel the presence of many others all around him, but it was as if they were close by yet unreachable at the same time. He couldn't tell if he was having trouble reaching out to them, or if they were ignoring him or somehow too far away.

"Actually," came a new voice, "you are simply not far enough in yet."

The voice had spoken so close to Prowl's head that he literally jumped. "Who are you?" he demanded, and when he looked he could make out the outline of someone he'd never seen before, and seemed to be engulfed in their own bright white aura—the same kind that Prowl himself had now.

The stranger who'd spoken smiled at Prowl, and seemed to look him over for a moment. "Come," he said, reaching out and taking the ninja's arm. With that, the two of them moved forward through the endless white void. Prowl could feel a sensation like he was moving, but otherwise it was impossible to tell in this place.

But then, quite suddenly, everything changed. Prowl found himself standing on solid ground again, and he was in a very familiar setting.

Prowl gasped softly as he looked around. "This… is my room!" he exclaimed. Sure enough, it looked exactly as he remembered it, complete with the large tree that grew in the middle of the room, his table that had his personal computer on it, the "Keep Your Chin Up" poster on the wall, and the little potted bushes he had on a couple of tables against the wall.

"Am I… back?" Prowl asked. He felt quite confused at the thought, especially considering he'd chosen to end his life willingly, to protect his friends. And he still remembered Yoketron's words, about how Prowl himself would understand when his own time came, about why it was important to let a spark that is ready to go join the Well of All Sparks to simply go. So… why would they send him _back?_

"No, you're not back," the person who brought him here said. "This is simply a recreation from your own imagination, as a way to help you get your bearings, so to speak."

Prowl turned to look at the other person as he spoke. It seemed that everything in this room had taken on a solid form, and even Prowl himself seemed to be back in his old form, having a solid body with his old black-and-gold armor. The person before him no longer looked like a faint outline of a person with an aura, but he had a blue face with red eyes, a golden helmet, and something that looked like a flat lizard's head on his chest.

"Who are you?" Prowl asked.

"I am Dinobot," the other person answered.

For a moment Prowl thought of the three Dinobots on Earth, the ones he'd helped save, but he determined that this person was not one of them. He was someone different altogether.

"Actually," Dinobot continued, "I am technically from your future. I am from a time where there are Maximals and Predacons, the descendants of the Autobots and the Decepticons. But, the Well of All Sparks exists only in one timeframe, so that is why we are here at the same time."

Prowl didn't speak; he was still trying to make sense of everything he was being told, and everything that was going on. "Where is Master Yoketron?" he finally asked.

"Occupied," Dinobot answered simply.

"With what?"

The blue-faced bot smirked a bit. "Let's just say you will come to understand that as you grow accustomed to this place. No one remains idle here." Something that looked like a trace of compassion crossed Dinobot's features, and his voice softened ever so slightly. "I was just as confused when I first came here, as was Yoketron." A broad smile formed on his lips. "We have both watched you, and discussed you in great detail."

Prowl, who had been watching a small bird that had landed on one of the branches in the tree, whirled around to look at Dinobot. "You have been _watching_ me, in the living world?" he gasped, surprised. "Yoketron has been watching me?"

"Oh yes," Dinobot said. "You could say that is one of the things we do here. For the most part, no one is able to meddle in the affairs of the living world, as you call it. Although I would like to point out that we are quite alive here, too. It's simply another plane of existence."

Prowl's processor began to race as he thought about some of the things he'd done, and some of the mistakes he'd made. He could almost feel Yoketron's disappointment during the time when he'd let mods and upgrades go to his head, yet pride when Prowl removed the upgrades and chose to do without them. He could then almost feel Yoketron's pride when Prowl finally mastered processor over matter.

_Why didn't you tell me Lockdown was the one responsible?_ Prowl thought, and he didn't realize that in some ways he'd actually spoken it, too. Perhaps he was already starting to adapt to this place.

To his astonishment, he received a reply from Yoketron: _"Because you did not know him then, and it was not your time to know about who did it yet."_ Yoketron then fell silent.

Then somehow, even as Prowl began to think about it, it really did make sense. The fact of the matter was, if Prowl had known who'd done it, he might have gone off in a bitter rage after Lockdown, not stopping until he'd found him. And then Prowl might have been killed in the process, because without being a fully realized cyber ninja, Lockdown actually had the advantage with his skills and the upgrades he'd just started to collect.

So in his own way, Yoketron had saved Prowl's life by not revealing the information. Because instead of going off on a quest of vengeance, Prowl had instead tried to continue his training in his own way, alone, until that fateful day when Bumblebee and Bulkhead found him in the cave on that one asteroid. And that was when a whole new adventure had really begun.

"You were—and are—special, Prowl," Dinobot said, breaking into his thoughts. "The Allspark wanted you right where you were for a reason, and even Yoketron knew this, in his own way."

"So what happens now?" Prowl asked. Somehow he felt more curious than anything else. Most of his uncertainty and puzzlement were fading away.

Dinobot cocked his head to one side. "Is there something specific you wish to ask?"

Prowl thought for a moment. "What of my friends?" he asked. "What will become of them?"

Dinobot chuckled, for he had asked the same thing when he'd first entered the Well of All Sparks—or the Matrix, as the Maximals called it. "Optimus Prime will eventually become the new Magnus, although he will have a temporary power struggle when _Sentinel _Prime"—Dinobot's eyes narrowed when he said that name, as though it left a bad taste in his mouth—"tries one final attempt to usurp the mantle of leadership, so to speak. But in the end, Optimus Prime becomes, and remains, the true Magnus.

"And," Dinobot went on, "Sari will begin the new way for a new kind of Autobot, who will later be called Maximals. After what happened on Earth, and with Optimus Magnus as the new leader, they decide to open the possibility of exploring organic planets and interacting with organics. And so they will create some new bots, ones who can take on an organic half at will to blend in on an organic planet.

"Bumblebee will eventually grow beyond his youthful annoyance, and he will eventually bond with a femme named Stormrider. Not only will they be very happy together, but after a million stellar cycles or so, they will become the creators of one of the new Maximals." A smile crossed Dinobot's lips. "His name will be Cheetor."

The smiled faded and Dinobot went on. "Bulkhead will continue to improve upon the design of the transwarp technology for years to come. He even makes advancements on it, so that it is even possible to travel through space and time. A rather… risky development, but one that will come to be regardless.

"Ratchet and Arcee will become bondmates eventually, and Ratchet will continue to serve the rest of his years as a medic while Arcee resumes her previous career as a school teacher. She was… rather shocked to learn that so many stellar cycles had passed since they'd been captured by Lockdown, but she was able to resume the teaching career she loved best without much difficulty.

"Ah yes, and Jazz will continue to serve in the Elite Guard, and even advance his own cyber ninja training when he has the time. He will never make the breakthroughs that you made while you lived in that existence, but let's just say he will make excellent progress. He will even become a good teacher for other, younger cyber ninjas."

Dinobot finally fell silent, and seemed to look around the room as Prowl took in all of this information.

"Why did you tell me about all this?" Prowl asked.

"Because this is the Matrix," Dinobot said. "This is where all the questions you never had answered during your previous life get answered. It's also where you may know about the future of the other existence, because you are no longer there to interact with it."

"I see," Prowl said.

Another silence fell between them.

Prowl took a few steps toward his tree, reaching up and caressing the leaves on the lowest branch, just as he'd done so many times before back in his real room.

"Take all the time you need," he heard Dinobot say behind him. "This room was recreated for you to get your bearings. In fact," the former Predacon said with a smile, "it's now your place of residence within the Well of All Sparks. It may remain this way if you wish it, or you can learn to change it at will. It's up to you."

Dinobot placed a hand on Prowl's shoulder. "I will be nearby if you need assistance. Just call." With that, Dinobot turned and walked out the door, into the white void beyond and vanished.

Once the door closed behind him, Prowl actually began to feel like he truly was back in his room on Earth. He half-expected to have Bumblebee come bounding into the room as obnoxious as ever, or to have Jazz come in so that they could continue training together.

_They will be here someday,_ Prowl thought with a smile, still caressing the leaves with care.

"_Yes they will be,"_ came Yoketron's voice again. "_For now, you may watch over them, though. And, as you will learn in time, you may also help protect them at times, and guide their lives."_

Yoketron's voice fell silent, and Prowl knew what he wanted to do right now. Just as he'd done so many times on Earth, he leaped up into his tree, climbing to the highest branches and surrounding himself in the leaves.

Then he sat there quietly, enjoying the feel of it. In many ways he'd never felt so peaceful in all his existence.

And as he began to meditate, he found that he wasn't alone. He could hear the whispers of countless others, or simply feel their existence. Some of them greeted him as he reached outward with his consciousness; others engaged him in small talk or even passed on some information to help him increase his knowledge of existence in the Well of All Sparks.

And in some ways, Prowl found he could do things he'd never been able to do before, such as carry on several different conversations with several individuals at the same time. And in this place, he would have all the time in the universe to learn about this place, to get to know the bots here, and to improve himself.

He smiled. For the first time in his existence, he knew what it was like to feel truly centered and happy.


End file.
